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Chapter Text

Daniel was excited to introduce this idea to Lewis. It was a big one, maybe even bigger than the bank heist. He had been driving around town when he noticed the casino was busier than usual, it had turned out the older owners had sold to some new ones who had completely transformed the place. Daniel also got word of a vault below the casino. There was plenty in here to take that they wouldn’t need to a job for years, not that they would stop but if they ever needed to this place would certainly cover them. Daniel hadn’t led a heist in a while, Lewis wanted to see how capable other people were and Daniel was happy to take a step back but he really hoped if Lewis liked this idea he would let him lead.

He decided to bring up the idea first to Max who immediately wanted to go and see the casino, which is how Daniel found himself standing by his boyfriend who was playing blackjack. They couldn’t come here and not doing anything, it would look suspicious and that’s not what they were going for. Max had pointed out some areas to Daniel in which they could hack into and get the camera feed, Max would have done it then but he didn’t have his equipment. They stayed for another hour or two, playing games and socialising to see if they could find any more information out. The two of them accidentally ended up talking to the owners, who spoke to much for their own good. They had told the group of people Max and Daniel had found themselves in how they just hired new security guards and how the vault was below them, confirming to Daniel that there actually was a value. As they drove back Daniel couldn’t help but smile, his hand rested on Max’s thigh and every time he though about the casino he got happy making him squeeze Max’s thigh.

“Look, if you squeeze my thigh one more time, i will make you pull over.” Max firmly told him, Daniel chuckled and took his hand away.

“What do you think? About my idea that is.” Daniel asked, his eyes glued to the road so he didn’t see Max’s face lit up at how excited his boyfriend was.

“It’s a big one but i think it’s great, I reckon Lewis will let you do this.” Max smiled.

“I have a good feeling about this one, Maxy.” Daniel grinned.

“Do we time for a detour to our apartment before you speak to Lewis?” Max smirked.

“Always have time for you.” Daniel smiled and put his foot on the gas a little bit more. 

After they had finished Daniel started making his way to Lewis’ office, leaving Max at the IT lab so he could work. Daniel didn’t like to admit but his hands did start getting a little clammy as he got close to the office. He had never propositioned something like this before, only small, easy jobs and now he was diving straight into the deep end. Well, he couldn’t loose anything and it never hurt to take a risk. That’s what Daniel’s job was about, taking risks. Sometimes he could risk going fast around a corner, other times he couldn’t. A getaway driver had to be comfortable taking risks. He took a deep breath and knocked on the door, it was Sebastian who answered. Lewis turned in his chair to see who was there. He motioned for him to come in, Daniel did and took the chair in front of his desk. Sebastian shut the door behind him.

“Everything good?” Lewis asked.

“I have proposition.” Daniel looked at him.

“Go on, Seb sit.” Lewis pointed to the chair beside Daniel.

“Not a dog.” Sebastian playfully bit back, Lewis grinned at him.

“The casino, in town, it’s been taken over by new owners. They have a lot and i mean a lot. There’s even a vault underneath. I was thinking we should attack it. Do an old casino heist.” Daniel spoke confidently, he wasn’t going to let it slip that he had some nervous energy. 

“It did look rather busy when i last passed that way.” Lewis commented. “And who do you think should lead this project? If it was going to go ahead.”

“I was thinking myself.” Daniel looked at him. “I mean I do fill in for you and Seb when you’re not available. Plus, I have led a heist before and that went successfully, i know this is a lot bigger though. If you think you would be better leading it, all i ask is i have high involvement in it.” Lewis looked at Sebastian who seemed to tell him something with his eyes, leaving Daniel confused.

“If you think Carbon can do it, then i want you leading. This is your idea, you seem confident.” Lewis told him. 

“Really?” Daniel asked like an excited little kid who had just been told they could have their favourite treat.

“Really. I trust you Daniel. We can announce tomorrow, see who’s interest and assigned the roles from there. Obviously, i want a role in this. Never would i miss an opportunity to do a casino heist.” Lewis smiled.

“I think everyone is going to want to do it.” Sebastian said.

“Good, the more people we have equals the more money we get.” Daniel added.

“Exactly, now Daniel you have some paperwork to start.” Lewis looked at him.

“I do, thank you Lewis.” He smiled and gave him a pat on the shoulder as he left.

When Daniel left he was going to run straight to the IT lab to find Max, but the Dutch was waiting down the corridor. He looked over at Daniel when he left, giving him a questioning look. Daniel didn’t say anything just sped down the corridor, picked Max up and span him around. Max laughed as Daniel kissed every inch of his face.

“I’m guessing you got some good news to tell me?” Max smiled brightly at him.

“The casino heist is happening and I’m leading. Me, Maxy, me. Leading the biggest heist we’ve done in years.” He grinned and span him around again.

“I’m so proud of you, Dan.” Max kissed him.

“What about skipping lunch?” Daniel smirked at him.

“Was already planning on it.” Max smiled. 

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The next morning Daniel made his way to the meeting room two hours before he needed to be. He wanted people to be interested in this. They needed as many people as they could. This casino wasn’t small, it was large and Daniel could only assume the vault was just as big. At the time the meeting was scheduled everyone eventually filed in. Max came over and kissed him before taking his seat. George came through with the Lando on his back, the latter gave Daniel a high five on his way past, Alex filed in behind them smiling at his boyfriends. Pierre and Charles were the last ones to arrive, like they normally were because nobody could get Charles out of bed in the morning.

“Daniel, Daniel, Daniel.” Charles looked at him sleepily. “This best be good because you disturbed my beauty sleep.”

“It’s clearly not working.” Charles pouted at Daniel’s words and sulked over to Pierre’s lap, Pierre holding him close and whispering in his ear. Daniel could see Pierre giving him a cold stare.

“Right, listen up.” Lewis announced. “Daniel will be making an announcement in today’s meeting. I want you to listen and there is absolutely no pressure on you to be involved in this. If you don’t want to i will assign you other work, I’m more than happy to. Daniel, the floor is yours.” Lewis went and sat into his seat.

“So the Casino has been taken over by new owners and it’s absolutely buzzing. They’re definitely loaded, there is even a vault underneath. We are attacking this place, this score is going to be massive, but like Lewis said there is no pressure to be involved. This is going to take a lot of hard work, you’re all going to be busy. I’ll be leading this heist. So who’s interested?” Daniel asked, every single person at the table raised their hand. Daniel wasn’t expecting everyone to do that. “Wow, okay. Let’s start assigning roles.”

Daniel spent the rest of the meeting assigning everyone their jobs for this heist, he was still in shock over the fact that literally all of them had offered to help. Daniel was getting excited now, this heist was surely going to go well. They were going to come out of this with the biggest score they had ever gotten. Daniel had noticed about half way through the meeting, the way that Max was looking at him. He had the biggest smile on his face and his eyes said nothing but love. He had to fight the urge to take Max there and then. He was so proud of how far Max had come from the beginning, which is why Daniel made sure he had a higher up job within the heist. He knew Max could do it.

When the meeting finally finished Max ran straight to Daniel and wrapped his arms tightly around Daniel’s waist. Daniel smiled, kissed his head and hugged him back too. He loved moments like this where he could just hold Max in his arms, where he knew Max was safe and sound, where he knew nothing would harm Max.

“I’m so proud of you, Dan.” Max told him.

“I’m proud of you too, baby.” Daniel kissed his forehead.

“What did I do?” Max questioned. 

“I was just thinking about how far you’ve come since the beginning.” Max blushed and hid his face in Daniel’s neck. “So, I’m very proud of you.” He squeezed him.

“As much as I would love to stay in your arms, I do have to go do some work so we can hack into the cameras.” Max kissed his cheek before Daniel kissed him. Daniel smiled as he watched Max walk off with Lando, who had been waiting for him. When Daniel turned around Charles was staring at him.

“Don’t think i need to remind you that if you hurt him, i will break you.” Charles looked him dead in the eye.

“We’ve been together for three years now, i wouldn’t dream of hurting him.” Daniel replied.

“Charles are you threatening people again?” Sebastian asked from the corner of the room where he had been sorting the notes.

“No.” Sebastian looked at Charles. “Maybe but I’m going now.” Charles made the ‘I’m watching you’ hand gesture before leaving.

Daniel spent the rest of the day going around headquarters to check that everyone knew what they had to do. He caught up with Valtteri who had already made plans to get the security plans, he had even made an arrangement to go with the IT guys to the casino. He would be checking out the security guards while the boys would be hacking into the cameras and checking out the electronic security. Antonio and Lance had approached him about the van they were using, the two couldn’t decided which one would be better and had needed Daniel’s opinion. Daniel was more than happy to help them. He then sent them off to find Robert so they could actual put in a plan to get the unmarked vehicles. 

Daniel then checked in with gun guys. Alex and Pascal were deep into a conversation about which guns would be better for each person. Kevin and Romain were making plans to get ammunition. Romain had told Daniel that Esteban was making rounds asking everyone if they had a preference for the gun they wanted, Esteban would also be in charge of getting the drills and any other tools they needed. Nicholas was already finding buyers, Daniel had told him what he had seen while he had visited the casino. Daniel had already caught up with Sebastian who was making plans to buy masks so they could hid their identities, George was assisting him. He then visited Checo and Charles who were discussing how Charles could get more information. Their plan was Charles was going to visit the Casino and flirt with anyone and everyone to get some information, Daniel had asked them if it was okay with Pierre and Charles had replied that Pierre said it was fine as long he didn’t do anything extreme.

Daniel checked on the IT guys last, Pierre and Carlos were both sat around a laptop looking at something Daniel didn’t understand. Lando was on the Casino’s website trying to see if he could get into it and get more information. Max hadn’t noticed Daniel come in because he had his earphones in, Daniel walked behind him and wrapped his arms around his torso. Max flinched a little but smiled when he saw Daniel, taking his earphones out.

“And what is my little sunshine doing?” Daniel asked him, Max blushed and rolled his eyes at the nickname.

“Looking at the pictures of Casino, some have the cameras in so I’m getting the models to make it easier for us. What are you doing?” Max looked up at him.

“Well, Lewis has gone out to scout some pest control vans and uniforms so we can sneak into the back areas by planting bugs. I’m also checking everyone is all good.” Daniel smiled at him and placed a kiss on his head.

“Look at you being this strong, handsome leader.” Max smiled and kissed his jaw.

“So i am handsome then?” Daniel looked at him.

“Oi, you two stop flirting some of us are trying to work.” Lando shouted at him.

“Like you weren’t doing worse when Alex and George came to take you to lunch and i was trying to work.” Max shouted back.

“Toush.” Lando replied.

“It’s touché, how many times?” Pierre looked at him, Lando held his hands up defensively.

It was a couple days later when Lewis finally scored some pest control uniforms and a van. Daniel waited with Sebastian, George and Mick until Lewis arrived with the van. Romain and Kevin had already planted bugs in the Casino and Checo had already arranged with the Casino that they would take care of the bugs. Originally, the bugs had only been planted in the back areas but they managed to spread to the tunnel leading to the vault, which made their lives easier.

Daniel drove the pest control van to the Casino, the others made small talk amongst themselves. Daniel wasn’t paying attention, he was too busy thinking about everything else he had to prepare, he knew this was going to be a big job when he signed up for this it just hadn’t settled in back then. He knew this heist was going to go good, all their heists went well which is why he had planned to propose to Max as soon as they were back in the garage. 

It was perfect and Daniel had planned everything down to the second. He had the ring and the speech, he just needed the moment to hurry up. Lewis and Sebastian were already in on the idea and were just as excited as Daniel was. Daniel couldn’t wait but first they had to prepare and actually carry out the heist. His thought train was interrupted when they arrived at the Casino, Daniel parked the van around the back as the Casino manager had instructed. She met them at the entrance and showed them to the areas that were infected, as if they didn’t already know but she didn’t know that.

They started in the tunnel, Daniel could see the steel vault door at the back. It was tempting being this close to the vault but Daniel had to hold himself back, he didn’t want to ruin all his plans before they started. As he made his way around the tunnel, killing all the insects which made his skin crawl, he noticed how some alcoves had signs that said ‘emergency exit to sewers.’ Daniel made a mental note of these and saw George doing the same. These could come in useful should something go wrong. He didn’t want to think about anything go wrong but he had to think ahead, he had to plan ahead but Daniel knew his guys, he knew they wouldn’t mess up. He knew nothing would go wrong.

When they finished, Daniel hadn’t found much, he knew the other guys picked a thing or two up. Daniel had spotted cameras, the sewage exits and some security pads that someone would need to hack. He also saw the security room right before the tunnel to the vault, they weren’t going to be able to do this stealthily. Daniel knew that, the amount of guys they needed would never allow them to be stealthy. They had their plan though, a lot of people were going to die. Not on their side, Daniel would never allow that. Half the guys would be upstairs in the actual Casino clearing that out while the best of them would be downstairs in the vault. The ones who were downstairs needed to be the one’s who could work under pressure. Daniel had carefully selected who he was taking - himself, Lewis, Sebastian, George, Lando, Alex, Mick, Pierre, Valtteri, Charles and Max. Everyone else would be upstairs.

Daniel parked the van in the back garage of headquarters in case they needed it for any future missions. On the way back they had spoken about what they had spotted, George somehow memorised exactly which alcoves had the sewage exits and Daniel was impressed. He knew George’s skill, everyone did. Lewis wouldn’t take anybody on as his protege but Daniel was still impressed. George had a good mind. Mick had told them how the cameras were strategically placed at certain parts of the tunnel and underground lobby area, Daniel was impressed with that too. He would have just thought that was the only place a camera could go. Mick had recently impressed Sebastian that much, that he took him on as his protege.

“You two are really come for my job.” Daniel joked, his job was to fill in for Lewis or Sebastian when they weren’t available.

“Better watch out then.” George grinned.

The next month went a lot quicker than Daniel liked. He found himself doing something almost every minute of the day. The minute he got home every night he would be out like a light, Max tucking him in when he found him asleep. Planning the heist wasn’t easy at all, there were so many preparations they had to do. Daniel helped with these where possible even if they weren’t his department, the only ones he didn’t help with was the IT ones - he definitely understood nothing of what they were doing even if Max did explain it to him on multiple occasions.

Daniel woke the week of the heist with Max tucked in his arms, the blonde’s head laid softly on Daniel’s chest. This week he would be proposing to the love of his life. He couldn’t imagine a life with Max, he was his sunshine. Max always made Daniel’s day brighter and better. Daniel kissed Max’s head lightly.

“Go away.” Max huffed sleepily. 

“You gotta get up, Maxy.” Daniel stroked his back lightly.

“No, i don’t.” He insisted.

“I’m currently your boss, so yes you do. Up.” Daniel instructed.

“That’s hot.”

“Later, Maxy.” Daniel laughed.

“Or now, in the shower.” Max smirked and ran off to the shower.

“You’re evil.” Daniel laughed and followed him.

Daniel spent every second he could that week checking every detail over and over. He needed this to be perfect, they couldn’t afford any failures, they couldn’t afford many mishaps. Daniel had already been forced away from his work by Lewis at least four times now. Daniel spent many hours hunched over books, taking notes and making corrections. By the time it was heist day Daniel was so ready for this to be over so he could sleep for week. He had loved planning this heist but he couldn’t help but think that maybe he overworked himself just a little. It was okay though because Daniel knew his limits and he wasn’t there. He was close. If he had spent one more day working, he’d be there. Fortunately, it was heist day. They just had to wait for tonight so they could attack.

A few hours before sunset, they all gathered in the meeting room. Lewis rambled on for about forty minutes, giving them one of his ‘inspirational speeches.’ Daniel was pretty sure Charles was asleep on Pierre’s shoulder. Lewis always told them how proud he was off them before they went on a mission, sometimes Daniel wondered if it was because if anything went wrong he wanted his last words to be something nice rather than rude and harsh. 

“And before i hand over to Daniel, i need you all to listen carefully.” Daniel saw Pierre nudge Charles to get him to pay attention. “George is never, and i repeat never, to be left alone. Rosberg is still after him. If you see him by himself, go to him and alert us. Got it?” Everybody acknowledged Lewis in some sense, Daniel saw George roll his eyes slightly. He didn’t blame George, he was being babied by Lewis and even if it was in good measure, Lewis was being a bit intense with it. “Daniel, floor is yours, man.” Lewis patted Daniel on the shoulder as he took his seat.

“Thanks.” Daniel stood up in front of them. “I’d definitely be lying to if i told you all I’m not nervous.” He laughed nervously. “This is big but i know we have this. Not to do a Lewis moment right now, but you’re all amazing and i trust you all. I know we can all do this. I shouldn’t need to remind you but this won’t go to plan unless we work together. That means no getting pouty with anyone Charles.” Charles broke out of his daydream to pout at Daniel. “And before we get ready to go, I just want to thank you all for helping me and a big thanks to Lewis for letting me lead this.” Daniel smiled at them all. “Why you all still sat here? Let’s move it.” He ushered them out.

Daniel’s eyes scanned the garage, everybody was equipping their armour, bags and guns. Daniel laughed as George showed his shirtless chest off once more before putting his armour on. Everybody seemed ready for this, Daniel really hoped his wasn’t misjudging it. His eyes carried on scanning around until they found what they were searching for, Max. The Dutchman was helping Charles do up his armour as the zipper had gotten stuck. Daniel made his over to them, Max hugging him tightly once he had finished with Charles. 

“I love you, Maxy.” Daniel kissed him.

“I love you too, Dan.” He smiled up at him. “So proud of you, for managing all of this. This is going to go brilliantly and it’s all because of you.” Daniel smiled widely, especially at those last words. This was going perfectly and it was all because of him. Everything that happened was because of him. He kissed Max again before leaving to round everyone up into the cars after putting his own armour on. 

Daniel climbed into his Audi S3. George, Lewis, Sebastian and Mick were already read inside waiting for their driver. They had the faster because they knew to have the quickest getaway. They were the two leaders, standby and two protege. Plus with Nico Rosberg still after George’s head, they need to be able to get away as quickly as possible. Daniel started the ignition.

“Lights out.” He spoke into the earpiece as he drove out of the garage and started their route to the Casino. “Chequered flag on arrival.” They had the second quickest route to the Casino. Antonio’s van which had himself, Kevin and Romain in had the quickest. They’d be attacking the Casino floor where all the slot machines and thing were. Antonio was leading the upstairs gang, Daniel had already given him all the intrusions they would need. They supposedly had the easier job out of the two.

“Chequered flag.” Kevin announced. Daniel knew they would wait for the rest of the upstairs crew.

“Chequered flag.” Daniel announced to everyone, to let them know the main car was there by the tunnel entrance as planned.

It wasn’t very long before the rest of the chequered flags came through, letting Daniel know they were there. 

“And away we go.” Daniel gave them the signal to start the attack. Mick very quickly burnt the seals off the tunnel gate, Daniel knew Pierre would be hacking this from afar so he could open it. It made it easier if the seals were burnt. Mick climbed back into the car once this was done. They didn’t have to wait for more than a minute before the gate open.

As the drove along, Sebastian, Lewis and Mick rolled their windows. Lewis and Mick were in the back seats, George in the middle of two, and Sebastian was in the front beside Daniel. They pulled their guns out and aimed, getting ready for when they would approach the drop off bay to shoot whoever was there. They had to act fast with this because they didn’t want any alarms being set off until they were in the vault. The drop off bay was where the Casino got all their items delivered. It was just food and wine, things Carbon didn’t need to take. As they pulled into it, the three of them very quickly took them out. Daniel knew Pierre had already disabled the cameras, he could see the red light blinking instead of the green one. He turned the car around so they could very quickly leave as this would be their exit as well as the entrance. Once Daniel had turned the car off they all made their way to the stairs. It two flights of stairs down and Daniel knew there could potentially be guards.

“Status?” Daniel asked Alex as they walked down the stairs.

“Almost gone.” Alex replied. The rest of the downstairs crew would already be taking out the guards down there as they had taken a different entrance. Daniel was the first to exit the staircase, he popped his head around first to see if anybody was there. Other than their crew, there was just bloodied dead bodies lying on the ground. 

He gave the all clear to the four waiting in the staircase and they made their way over to the tunnel entrance. Lando and Pierre already had their laptops connected to two card machines. They were frantically typing. When they both had finished they look at each other and pressed enter at the same time, it was important they did this at the same time otherwise it would not work. The card machines worked in a way where the cards had to be swiped simultaneously on both sides. They knew the hack had worked when the doors slid open.

As they all made their way down the tunnel, Daniel once again looked at the alcoves. George had told everyone multiple times which ones had sewage exits but they had all agreed only to use these in an emergency because they could be risky exit points. Daniel turned his head around just to double check everyone was with them. They were and Daniel gave Max a once over, just to check he was okay. When they reached the vault door, a clueless security guard was there. He clearly hadn’t heard the gunshots. Daniel aimed at his head and shot once. No mercy for the good guys. Alex and Valtteri went ahead to the vault door and began to use the drills. It took them no less then two minutes before they were in.

“You know your positions.” Daniel told them as they all went in.

He went to section G, like they had planned. Lando was already hacking into the section. The Casino owners honestly weren’t that smart. Some sections of the vault were already open, meaning they could just go in and take. There was only three that weren’t. Lando had section G and Pierre had section A and B. Section A and B could be hacked at the same time, which made Pierre’s job a lot quicker. As soon as Lando opened in, Daniel was in taken everything he could and shoving it into a bag. Lando was beside him drilling open safe deposit boxes and taking the money. They knew they would only have a few minutes in the vault.

“Almost done.” Pierre came in over the earpiece, he was telling them how long they had left as he drilled into some boxes too.

“Ant?” Daniel radioed him for an update. 

“Going good. Almost done.” He replied. This was going so well.

“We have to go. Now. There’s gas incoming in twenty seconds.” Pierre said frantically. They had prepared for the gas. Daniel watched as everyone pulled on a gas mask as he pulled on his own. These wouldn’t completely block out the nerve gas but would stop them from receiving a fatal dose. Then they all started to leave the vault. 

“One second, my shoelace has come undone.” Max said to Charles, who didn’t hear him, as he bent down to tie his shoelace. His body hidden by a cupboard meaning nobody would see him on the way out. As Max bent down his hand caught the wire of his earpiece, it ripped the actual earpiece away from the wire. Max knew he would have to stay close to someone.

Daniel was the last one out of the vault, he didn’t think to double check if anybody was still inside because they had all received the message and would have heard it even if their earpiece was broken. Daniel shut the vault door to an almost close and they all began sprinting down the tunnel. They were fast. They would be out of the tunnel in less then a minute. It would take Max longer to tie his shoelace then it would for Daniel to run down this tunnel and to his exit, his boy could be real slow sometimes. 

While Max tied his shoelace he didn’t hear the door close, he didn’t check to see if someone was waiting for him. The first time he tied his shoelace, he failed. He struggled with them sometimes. He hadn’t learned till he was 18, he hadn’t needed to. When he tied it for a second time, the nerve gas started to fill the room quickly. Max double checked his mask was on correctly. He knew if he didn’t hurry he would still get a dose but even if he went into the tunnel, the gas would head that way anyway. He quickly tied his shoelace but as he was standing up his bag became stuck on the handle of the cupboard. Max cursed quietly under his breath as he unhooked his bag. He noticed there was spots forming in his vision, a sign he had been in here for too long, a sign he inhaled more gas then he should off. 

When he finally did reach the door, the dizziness started. Max felt as if he just been spun around twenty times. He pushed on the door, it was heavy. Not even Valtteri could open it by himself. Max needed to get out, he forced himself to use all strength to push. He pushed and pushed and pushed until it finally open enough for Max to get out. Max could feel his heart racing quicker, he couldn’t tell whether it was because of the gas or because he was panicking. He heard police shouting ahead. There was no way he could get out the way he came, it would be too risky. He remembered George had told them which alcoves had sewage exits, if only he could remember which ones did. He couldn’t think straight, the gas already making its way to his head. As he made his way down the tunnel, his breathing became deeper. He was struggling but he had to keep going, he had to. Max felt as if he couldn’t but that didn’t matter. 

“Check the vault.” He heard someone’s voice down the tunnel. He saw a flash of security clothing. He dived into an alcove and prayed it had a sewage exit. When he looked up, he saw it did. Max had never felt more lucky in his life. Now, he just had to climb the ladder.

One foot, then another. One ring of the ladder, then another. Max just tried to focus on escaping, he tried to ignore the spots in his vision which were only getting bigger. He tried to ignore his breathing which was becoming deeper. He tried to ignore the dizziness which was ever more present. He tried to ignore the heavy headache that was now attacking his head. 

While all this was going on, Daniel was driving the car away from the Casino. They were very lucky that they hadn’t been spotted by any police. Daniel tried his best to drive fast but not suspiciously.

“Tell me when you’re all safe.” Daniel instructed over the earpiece. He received news from every vehicle apart from Nicholas’. Nicky was driving himself, Max, Carlos and Yuki. “Carlos, I have not received anything from your car.”

“We have a problem.” Carlos’ voice came back thickly, he sounded scared.

“Carlos?” Daniel asked.

“We don’t know where Max is. We didn’t realise he wasn’t in the car until now.” Daniel heard Carlos swallow heavily.

“What do you mean? He left the vault.” Daniel said. Then he thought, he hadn’t seen Max leave. “Has anyone seen Max?” He asked everyone.

“Not since we were in the vault.” Charles already sounded upset.

“Let me connect you to him.” George said from the back of the car. When George did connect them Daniel just got a very loud static down his ear.

“George, stop it. Turn it off.” Daniel shouted as he couldn’t hear anything, when George turned it off Daniel spoke again. “It was just static.”

“His earpiece is broken then.” Lewis commented.

“We’re going back.” Daniel told them. They could go back in through the sewage.

“Boss, you are too far. We are closest.” Kevin came in. “We’ll go. You go back.” 

“Tell Antonio to step on it, Kevin and take the sewage entrance.” Daniel instructed them.

Max finally got out of the ladder tunnel, he could barely see now. He knew he was in the sewage. He could somewhat smell it, the mask blocking most of the smell. He knew he couldn’t last any longer. He couldn’t. He had to give up. Max fell to his knees, the cold floor connected with his knees harshly. His vision was gone now, he could just seen lights. The dizziness was more intense now, he knew he was about to pass out and just before he did he saw set of bright lights. Max was convinced it was the police.

It wasn’t. Antonio pulled in the sewers, he stayed in the van while Kevin and Romain got out of the car. They were about to take one of the ladders down when they saw a body laying further down the sewers. The two of them made a sprint down the tunnel, Max was laying face forward in sewage. His mask had become fogged up. Kevin and Romain picked him up, the former taking most of the weight as he was stronger. Antonio had to help them get Max into the car, Max ended up sprawled over Kevin and Romain in the van.

“We have him. Signal Kimi.” Kevin told them.

Daniel had already driven back to headquarters. He was waiting in the garage, Lewis and Sebastian close. It was pretty evident that his proposal plan wasn’t going to happen. Daniel watched as the van pulled in and Kimi rushed over with a stretcher. He watched as they got Max’s unconscious body onto it and rolled him away.

This was his fault, this was his mission. He had planned all of this, Daniel was meant to check on everybody. Daniel should have checked everybody was out. Daniel should have at least checked his own boyfriend was out. Max could die now and it would be Daniel’s fault. Like Max had said everything that’s happened with this Casino heist was because of Daniel, this is Daniel’s fault. He had caused his own boyfriend to have inhaled to much nerve gas. Charles and Lando followed Kimi, opening the elevator for him. Daniel couldn’t bring himself to follow, instead he did the only thing he was good at - he made a getaway and ran as far as he could from headquarters.

Chapter Text

When Max finally came too it had been almost two days since the Casino heist. It had been two days since anybody had seen Daniel. Lewis had been searching for Daniel all day, only coming home at night to sleep. Charles had also been following Lewis looking for Daniel but that was something Lewis didn’t need to know.

Max slowly opened his eyes, waiting for them to adjust to the bright light in the room, it was dark outside telling Max it was night. Max’s eyes stung as he opened them, he remembered was had happened. This must be the gas still lingering in his eyes. He looked around to find Charles and Lando asleep next to each other, Lando with his head on Charles shoulder. Max frowned when he realised Daniel wasn’t there, nor was there any sign of him being there. He didn’t want to wake Lando and Charles up so he was about to fall back asleep when the door opened. Max looked up expecting it to Daniel but it was Kimi. The Finn gave Max a soft smile when he saw him awake.

“Kimi, do you ever sleep?” He whispered.

“Not the time for questions. You’ve been out for almost two days.” Max blinked at Kimi, who didn’t even try to be quiet.

“Max.” He heard Charles say, the Monégasque hugging his side softly.

“Where’s Dan?” Max asked looking down at Charles who looked to Lando, then to Kimi, then back to Max. “Where’s Dan?”

“Max...” Charles blinked at him.

“Tell me where Daniel is.” 

“He’s-“ Kimi went to say something but Charles hastily put his hand over Kimi’s mouth, the older one scoffed and took Charles’ hand off. “He’s not here. He ran away.” Charles and Lando looked at Kimi harshly. “He was going to find out eventually.” He justified.

“What? No, Dan wouldn’t do that. He wouldn’t leave me in the medic room alone..” Max blinked back the tears that were filling his eyes. “He wouldn’t..”

“We don’t why he’s gone.” Lando said quietly, he came closer to Max.

“I want Daniel.” Max tried to get out of bed but was held down by Charles and Kimi. “Let me go, i want Daniel.” Max tried to wiggle out of there grips but didn’t succeed. The tears finally falling from his eyes. “I want Daniel.”

“Lando, go get Lewis.” Kimi instructed the young Brit who hurried off. “Max, calm down.” Kimi turned to Max who was still trying to get out of his Charles’ grip.

Max wasn’t going to calm down. He wanted Daniel, he wanted his Daniel. Max wanted him to tell him everything was alright and he was safe now. He wanted to be in Daniel’s arms. Max needed to get out of this medical room and to find Daniel. Kimi and Charles started to grip him more harshly the more Max struggled.

“What’s going on?” Lewis asked walking in with Sebastian and Lando trailing him, Max gave Sebastian a pitiful look, hoping the German would help him.

“I’m going to need to give him some sleeping drugs. He needs to go back to sleep, I can’t hold him back all night.” Kimi told him.

“Go ahead.” When Lewis said that Max struggled more, Kimi swapped with Sebastian so he could prepare the drugs.

“Let me go. I need Daniel.” Max cried more furiously now, Sebastian put a soft hand on his cheek.

“Max, you need sleep first. Lewis is looking for Daniel, then you can see him, okay? Just calm down for me so Kimi can help you.” Sebastian said softly.

“I want Daniel.” Max replied, looking up at Sebastian.

“I know you do and as soon as we find him, we will tell you. Can you relax for Kimi now?” Sebastian asked.

“Sebastian..” Max tried to give his best puppy eyes.

“I’ll get Lando to bring you some of Alex’s pancakes, if you relax for Kimi.” Max contemplated this for a second. He wanted Daniel, he needed Daniel but he knew he wouldn’t get very far right now. He felt weak, he felt tired. He nodded at Sebastian and shut his eyes as Kimi administered the drugs. 

Sebastian and Charles let go of Max once the drugs had made their way into Max’s system. They were quick acting drugs because Kimi didn’t want to deal with Max anymore, it was late. He offered them a simple goodbye and left. Sebastian walked around to Charles and hugged the younger boy.

“I’m going to kill him.” Charles seethed into Sebastian’s chest.

“No you are not. Let’s get you back to Pierre.” Sebastian told him.

“I’m staying here for the night with Lando.” 

“Lando, promise me you’ll keep him here.” Sebastian turned to the Brit.

“I will do.” Lando told him. “You get yourself back to sleep.” Lando took a seat. 

“Behave, Charles.” Sebastian told him before leaving. As he left he locked his pinky with Lewis’ as they walked.

Lando tried to keep his promise, he really did. He kept an eye on Charles until he fell asleep. When he woke up, Charles was gone. Max was still sleeping soundly on the bed, which Lando was thankful he didn’t loose both of them. Lando had told Sebastian that he’d keep him here but here he was with no Charles. He could be with Pierre like he yesterday. Lando debated what to do but then he heard Max wincing.

“Are you okay?” Lando asked.

“Just a headache.” Max grumbled. “Where’s Charles?”

“I don’t know..” Lando looked at him.

“Guess who brought pancakes!” Alex came through the door with George in tow. “Where’s Charles?”

“I don’t know, stop asking me!” Lando rolled his eyes.

“Okay, so Lando’s hungry. Come here babe.” George sat down with a plate of Alex’s pancakes, Lando practically launched himself into George’s lap.

“I bought you some, Max. Kimi said you can have them but you need to eat slowly.” Alex handed him the plate, Max ripped a piece off and ate it. He had tasted Alex’s pancakes before and they always tasted like heaven. Max watched as George fed Lando, it made him miss Daniel. Daniel would always feed him when Max didn’t feel like eating, Daniel always made sure Max ate at least three meals a day.

———————————

Charles had sneaked out in the early hours of that morning. Lewis was driving off in his car as Charles left headquarters. He hid behind a bin with his bike, waiting a few seconds before getting on and following Lewis. He knew the older one was out looking for Daniel, Charles was going to follow him until they found Daniel and then he was going to rip Daniel’s throat out. He already wanted to do that when he first left but after seeing Max last night, it was something he had to do. Charles saw Lewis take a corner, he decided it would be quicker to go down the alley. As he came into the alley, he saw a pair of feet. As he came closer to the feet, he quickly realised it was Daniel’s feet he was looking at. The Australian looked like death, he was staring up at sky. Charles stopped his bike and climbed off, he had found Daniel before Lewis. Lewis couldn’t stop him.

“You are so dead.” Charles growled at Daniel, the older man just looked at him. He didn’t try to fight back, he didn’t try to stop Charles. The Monégasque launched himself forward and onto to Daniel. He pulled his fist back and hit straight in the middle of Daniel’s nose, hoping he broke it. He continued punching Daniel in place he could reach until he was pulled off him. It took Charles a minute to let the adrenaline wear off until he realised Sebastian was holding him back. “What the hell, Sebastian?” Charles tried to get out of his grip. “How did you find me?” 

“Lando texted me, saying you had gone. I looked out the window and saw you hiding from Lewis. I followed you, lost you for a minute but i heard a ruckus coming from down here.” Sebastian told him, Charles turned back to Daniel who now had Lewis beside him. The leader trying to stop the bleeding of Daniel’s nose with his shirt. 

“Let him suffer!” Charles shouted at Lewis. “He deserves it, he let Max suffer. Did you not see him last night?” 

“Charles.” Lewis looked up at him. “Go back to headquarters with Seb.”

“No.”

“That’s an order, Charles. I’m quite happy to suspend you.” Charles blinked at Lewis, never had that man suspended someone, he let himself get dragged away by Sebastian.

“Daniel, why are you in an alley?” Lewis asked him.

“Because Michael doesn’t get back till tomorrow.” Lewis knew Michael was a close friend of Daniel’s.

“Why don’t you come back to hq?” Lewis pulled the shirt back before putting it back.

“I can’t go back there. I can’t face Max after i let him down.” A few tears fell from Daniel’s eyes.

“At least let Kimi look at you.” 

“No, Max is in medical, isn’t he?” Daniel looked at Lewis.

“What if i can get Kimi to come to you?” Daniel nodded. “Then we can break into Michael’s house, I’m sure he won’t mind but i am not leaving you on the streets.”

“Okay.”

“You will come back, won’t you?” Lewis asked.

“I can’t answer that.”

“Don’t give up, Daniel. Don’t leave Carbon and Max behind. You can’t do that to Max, it wasn’t even your fault.” 

“I let him get left behind..”

“Daniel, shut up. You didn’t.” Lewis looked at him.

———————————

Max was about to go back to sleep when Charles was dragged in by Sebastian, Pierre following behind. Charles looked pissed, there was blood on his hand and a little on shirt. Sebastian didn’t look happy with Charles and Pierre just looked worried. The Frenchman sat down first, Charles practically being pushed by Sebastian into his lap. Sebastian left without saying a word to anyone. Pierre held Charles close.

“What happened?” Lando beat Max to it. Alex had gone now, had some business to attend too. George was still here though, holding Lando close.

“He-“ Pierre started before Charles put his hand over Pierre’s mouth.

“Charles, you gotta stop doing that.” Lando glared at him. Charles rolled his eyes and removed his hand.

“He beat up Daniel.” Pierre said, not daring to look Max in the eye.

“What?” Max said quietly. “Where is he?” He was about to get out of bed until Lando reached over and pushed him back down.

“I don’t know and I don’t care.” He folded his arms. “He got what he deserved and i hope i never have to see his face again.” 

“Charles..” Max looked at his friend, Charles really could be something sometimes. 

“No, Max. He hurt you. Nobody gets to do that to you and get away with it.” He looked at Max. “Look at you, connected to all these stupid machines, he’s left you like that. He’s not the one who sat by your beside, not knowing if you’ll wake up. He ran away.” 

Max didn’t say anything, he just closed his eyes and tuned out of the conversation. Charles had a point, Daniel did run. He left Max here, left Max in the medical room. He left Max in the place Daniel knew he hated the most. He left Max in the place that brought back all the memories. Daniel had left Max in the place he had his biggest breakdown in. Daniel had left Max in the place where Max had told him his best kept secret. Max remember Christmas Eve of 2015 like no other. Daniel just had to leave him here in the medical room. Charles and Lando hadn’t left him, well, Charles had but he came back. Charles had left Max to hurt the person who hurt him and Max couldn’t help but think that maybe Daniel did deserve just a little bit of pain.

Max didn’t realise he was crying until he felt someone wiped them away, he opened his eyes a little to find Charles and Lando laying either side of him on the bed. The both of them hugging him close. Max felt somewhat safe, he knew he would feel safer in Daniel’s arms but he wasn’t here and Max needed to stop thinking about him. Daniel clearly didn’t care about him, if he cared about him, he would be here. Max fell into a very restless sleep that night.

A few days later, Kimi agreed that Max could be discharged from the medical room. Max had spent the days before begging Kimi to let him go every time the Finn entered the room. Kimi started wearing earbuds went he entered the room. Kimi had put him on house arrest though, he was only allowed to leave a few times a day for walks. Charles and Lando had already agreed to take shifts staying with Max. Lewis had signed this off, their boss still hadn’t spoken to Charles since he hit Daniel. Charles had spent the whole of yesterday complaining to Max about it.

“What if he suspends me? What do i do then?” Charles wined.

“Shut up, Charles.” 

“I’m going to be out of a job.” 

“You’ll be out of a head in a minute.” Max glared at him.

Max was glad to be out of the medical room. Every time he closed his eyes he was reminded of that situation, he saw him and for once he wasn’t talking about Daniel. Sebastian had came to check on him everyday, he knew what the medical room reminded him off. Max had overheard Sebastian talking to Kimi, asking the Finn if he could discharge Max as soon as possible. Kimi had dealt with Max when the situation happened, Kimi saw what pain it had caused Max. He had agreed with Sebastian and told him he would let Max go the second he could. Kimi do that which is how Max found himself staring at his and Daniel’s bed. 

He leant against the bedroom door frame as he heard Charles pottering around the kitchen, making them both a tea. Max’s gaze could have burnt holes in the mattress. Once again, Max found his mind wondering to Daniel, wondering to everything they had done in that bed. All the things they said to each other in that bed like the first time Max had told Daniel he loved him but the Australian was asleep. Max had checked he was before he told him. He eventually worked up to telling him while he was awake.

“Nope, stop that, right now. We are not pulling a Charles today, thank you.” Charles pulled Max away from the door and pushed him onto the couch. There was two steaming cups of tea on the coffee table. “If it’s too hard to be here, Pierre said you can stay with us.”

“No, I’m okay. I need to be here, in case he comes back.” Max said reaching for his tea, he didn’t see the look Charles gave him.

“Max..”

“Don’t.” Max looked at him. “It’s the only thing I have to hold onto.” 

Lando came over later to take the place of Charles. The Brit ended up falling asleep on the couch, he had complained to Max about his long day of staring at a computer, spending his lunch break with George and Alex doing something that wasn’t eating and then Lando had fallen asleep. Max put a blanket on him so he didn’t get cold and tiptoed to his bedroom. He turned the light on and blinked as the brightness shocked him. He took his clothes off and went over to the wardrobe. He knew it wasn’t a smart idea but needed to somehow be with Daniel right now. He pulled on his favourite hoodie of Daniel’s and inhaled the scent. It smelt like him, it smelt like the ocean, it smelt like Daniel. He pulled on a pair of his shorts before closing the wardrobe and getting into the bed. He sighed when he realised the bed too smelt like Daniel. He wanted Daniel.

Max stared at the ceiling as he felt the tears rise in his eyes. All he seemed to have done this past few days is cry but he had only done it when he was alone or everyone else was asleep. He didn’t want people to think he was weak, like he had, like he had told him. He didn’t want people to think Daniel leaving had affected him. He knew people treated him like a fragile porcelain doll since that happened and he hated it. He didn’t mind it from Daniel but Daniel was the only one who got to see him when he was full of raw emotion. He had some sort of a wall between himself and everyone else, no matter how close he was with them. It was Daniel who had saved it, it was Daniel who got to see him weak. Nobody else which is why he couldn’t afford to break the walls down, he didn’t want people to treat him like he was going to break at any second.

Although, he did feel as if he was going to break at any second. Being without Daniel and being in the medical room for that long had really broke him. He had really got down to his core and tore at it. Daniel would know how to fix him, Daniel would know how to deal with him but Daniel wasn’t here now. He wasn’t here, he was somewhere else faraway from Max. He was somewhere else not caring about Max. The Dutch rubbed at his eyes as the tears fell fast, he didn’t want to cry, he never wanted to cry. Max knew how weak it made him look, he had been told enough times that it was practically scared into his brain. Max pulled the sleeves of Daniel’s hoodie over his hands and held them up to his eyes, trying to stop the tears but smelling Daniel’s scent just made him ten times worse. He ended up crying himself to sleep, trying to forget about Daniel.

When he awoke the next morning, Lando was still fast asleep on the couch, the blanket tucked all the way up to his neck. Max knew Lando’s nightmares had gotten a lot better, thanks to Alex and George. Those two did so much for Lando. Max smiled softly at Lando before realising he could sneak out without anyone noticing. There was only one person who woke up at 5am and that was Valtteri and Max knew he would be in the gym. He could get out of headquarters and avoid that. He went back into his bedroom and pulled on some joggers, he left he hoodie on. Max quickly put his trainers on before grabbing his phone and dashing out of his apartment. He knew he had to be quick before someone else woke up. His just wanted out of here, he wanted to find Daniel. If Charles of all people could find Daniel then why couldn’t he? 

He successfully made his way out of headquarters without being spotted. He just let his feet take him wherever they felt like, maybe a subconscious part of his brain was taking him to all the places Daniel could be. If he thought about it, the logical answer would be that Daniel was at Michael’s house but Max didn’t want to go there and he didn’t want to think about that. He knew what Daniel liked to do when he got upset. He just hoped he wasn’t doing it with Michael, Max knew he wouldn’t do that with Michael, Max knew Daniel wouldn’t do that to him but there was so many things flying around in Max’s brain he couldn’t think properly.

He walked around the area for two hours, he stopped to check his phone after his thoughts finally stopped. It was a little past 7 now and he’d left at just after 5. There was a couple texts from Charles, Lando, Sebastian and Lewis, they were all asking him where he was. He scoffed before putting his phone away, as if he was going to tell them where he was. He wanted to find Daniel, he wanted to be with Daniel. Although, Daniel had hurt him, if he saw him right now he’d run straight into his arms. He would let Daniel whisper that everything was alright in ear. He would whisper back that he forgave him because Max did. It wasn’t his fault he got left in the vault and he understood why Daniel ran, even if it hurt him, because he had ran from situations before too. Usually, that was first instinct when something went wrong. He could run for hours and hours when he gave into that instinct.

As he started to walk down an empty street, a dark blue van started speeding towards him. He was scared for a second, thinking it might be someone from Fernando’s gang or even Nico looking for George, but being kidnapped was the least of his worries. Max carried on walking as normal, then the van stopped beside him on the road. He finally looked into the van to see who it was, Romain and Kevin were looking straight at him.

“Max.” Romain hurried out of the van, getting to Max before he could flee. Romain didn’t even need to look at him for more than second before deciding he needed a hug and gave him one. Max let himself relax into the hug. “You can’t run off like that.” Romain told him as he ushered Max into the middle of the seat, Max let himself be pushed into the seat. 

“I wanted to look for Daniel.” He said looked at his feet.

“I know but nobody knew where you were. We were worried what happened last time you went missing might have happened again.” Romain said the last part quietly, Max just sat looking guilty at his feet.

“We’ve found him.” Max heard Kevin speak into the car’s radio. “On the way back now.”

Max sat quietly as Kevin drove them back. He wished he was anywhere but here right now. If he had ran the second he saw the van, he could still be out looking for Daniel and Daniel could be hurt somewhere out there, with nobody to help him. Max chewed at his lip harshly, trying to stop himself from thinking about Daniel. As soon as he was out of the van, Sebastian and Charles both hugged him tightly. Charles said something in hurried french that Max couldn’t work out. 

“Max, don’t do that again, please.” Sebastian said as they pulled away. 

“Why? It’s not like you actually care is it?” Max looked at him.

“Max.” Lewis intervened.

“What? None of you care about me, do you? Daniel was the only one who could work out what was going on during that situation.” Max practically spat at them all.

“Max.” Lewis said more firmly this time. “We do care about you. You know that. If you hide something from us we can’t work it out. You didn’t hide from Daniel, like you did with us.”

“None of you care!” Max grabbed the baseball bats they kept in the garage with some other simple weapons. “Nobody cares!” He shouted as he hit into the wall with the bat, denting it. “Not even Daniel cares or he’d be here!” He started swinging for any object he could hit, he had some control not to hit anyone. Max could see Lewis ushering everybody out of the garage until it was just Lewis, Max and Sebastian.

“Max, put the baseball bat down and talk to us.” Lewis said calmly, there was no evidence in his voice that he was angry with Max.

“You don’t care, what’s the point?” Max held hit baseball bat up and swung at the car Daniel usually used. If he couldn’t scream at Daniel then his car would just have to suffice. He hit any part of the surface he could, smashing the windows in the process. As he swung, tears started to fall from his eyes quickly and he couldn’t stop them. 

Max’s energy and adrenaline soon came to stop after he had destroy Daniel’s car. He dropped to his knees, not caring if he landed on glass or not. The baseball bat laid next to him, no longer clutched in his hand. Max brought his hands up to his eyes and sobbed into the sleeves of Daniel’s hoodie. He didn’t see Lewis moved the baseball away from him or check that he wasn’t in any glass - he wasn’t - he didn’t see Sebastian give him a painful look. Sebastian sat behind him and pulled Max into his chest.  Max buried his face in it and sobbed more.

“Charles.” Max said between sobs.

“You want Charles?” Sebastian whispered into his hair, Max nodded. “Lew, can you get Charles and a bottle of water?” Lewis nodded and rushed off. Sebastian held Max close as the younger let his feelings out.

Lewis returned with Charles and a bottle of water. The Monégasque joining the hug on the floor. Sebastian managed to get Max to take some small sips of water as he worked on calming himself.

“I want Daniel..”

“I know, I know.” Sebastian rocked him, he had never handle Max during a breakdown before but he had Charles and it usually calmed Charles. It couldn’t harm him to try. 

“I want Daniel.” Max said more firmly. 

“I know, Max, I know.”

“I need him.” Max sobbed again. 

“Take some deep breaths for me, okay? We don’t need you to work yourself up again.” Max tried his best to follow Sebastian’s instructions but it was hard when the only thing he think about was Daniel. Max turned around so he was hugging Charles too.

“Want Daniel.” Max whispered to Charles.

“I know, Maxy.” Charles whispered back. “But you can’t have him right now. It wouldn’t be good. Like you said to me when i wanted Pierre, sometimes the person you want isn’t the person you need right now.” Max frowned at that, he knew Charles was right.

“I scared Lando, didn’t i?” Max felt his breathing getting back to a regular pace.

“A little, I think he’s more worried.” Charles answered.

“Can we see him when I feel ready to move?” Max said, wiping his eyes with the sleeves of Daniel’s hoodie.

“We can.” Sebastian answered, he moved one of his arms so he was hugging Max and Charles. He knew how hard it was for Charles to see his best friend like that.

———————————

Max spent the next two weeks in his bed. Charles and Lando forced him out of it for twice daily walks and a shower. Max was thankful he had his best friends because without them he would have just cried in bed for the two weeks. He felt better towards the end of week two, he had started getting himself out of bed and actually changing his clothes. Max had stopped putting Daniel’s hoodies on and put his own clothes on instead. 

He had messaged Lewis the day before asking if could join todays meeting. He wanted to take baby steps to getting his head back. Kimi had already told him he wasn’t allowed to be back in the field for at least a month while his body healed from the effects of the gas. Lewis had agreed to let him join the meeting as long he understood that he could leave at any moment and he didn’t need to say anything. 

As Max dressed that morning he couldn’t help but let his eyes wonder to Daniel’s side of the wardrobe. The side that hadn’t been touched for a while, not by Daniel anyway. He sighed before looking away and dressing. He still wanted Daniel, he still needed Daniel but he was getting better at accepting that Daniel clearly wasn’t going to come back and that Daniel clearly didn’t care. 

Max sat in his usual seat, he tried his best not to look at the empty chair next to him but couldn’t help it. Daniel always sat next to him, holding his hand tight, making sure Max was okay. Max wanted that back. He wanted Daniel back. His thoughts was interrupted when Lewis started talking, Max did his best to keep his attention on Lewis, to keep his attention on the words. It worked somewhat, it worked until the end of the meeting. It worked until the door opened at the end of the meeting. It worked until he saw him at the end of the meeting, it worked until Charles had to be held back by Pierre and Sebastian because he pounced the second he saw Daniel at he door. 

“Daniel.” Lewis blinked, just as confused as everyone else. Max couldn’t help but look at Daniel, he waned to look away but he couldn’t. Daniel was here. “I think we should talk. Meeting’s dismissed. Don’t disturb me.” Lewis ushered Daniel away, Max couldn’t tear his eyes away from the door.

“Let me go!” Charles tried to get out of Pierre’s and Sebastian’s grip. “Let me kill him!” 

“Charlie, baby, I’m not going to let you do that.” Pierre put a hand on Charles’ cheek, knowing it was a weak point for him. “Come on, let’s sit you down.” 

“Max?” Lando was stood beside him now, Max looked at him then back at the door.

“You saw that too, didn’t you?” Max asked him.

“I did. We all did.” Lando side hugged him. “Would you like to come shopping with me, George and Alex?” 

“Okay.” Max still didn’t look away from the door until Lando pulled him out of his trance.

—————————

Lewis told Daniel to sit when he pulled him into his office. Daniel hesitated but sat anyway.

“I’m sorry for leaving.”

“Daniel, i don’t think I’m the one you need to apologise to.”

“I know.” He said quietly.

“He had a breakdown two weeks ago.” Daniel looked at Lewis in shock. “He smashed your car with a baseball bat, we had to dispose of it. It was beyond redemption.”

“Okay.” Daniel didn’t know what to say. He felt even more guilty then he had done.

“I haven’t seen him like that since you know what happened. Don’t expect him to be okay with you immediately, he might be or he might not be. Charles definitely won’t be.”

—————————

Max didn’t see Daniel until the next day. He spent the day with George, Lando and Alex, shopping. Max preferred to online shop but at least he was some what distracted by Lando asking him for advice. Lewis had texted Max that morning asking him to come to the meeting room at midday. Max didn’t know at that time he was going to see Daniel, he didn’t ask and Lewis didn’t tell him. Daniel was sat at the table when he entered, he didn’t look up at Max he just stared at his hands which were crossed on the table. He looked over to Lewis who just eyed the chair opposite Daniel. Max took the message and sat down.

“Right I’m going to leave you two to talk. I’ll be watching on the camera so don’t get physical.” Lewis patted Max’s shoulder as he left.

Neither Max nor Daniel said anything at first. Daniel glanced up at Max but almost immediately looked back down at seeing the pain in Max’s eyes.

“You left me...” Max broke the silence. “You left me in the medical room after you know what being in there does to me.”

“I know.” Daniel still didn’t look at him. “I feel more guilty than you could know. I didn’t know what to do, the only thing i could do was run.”

“And you’re a dick for doing that.” Daniel looked up at Max, finally meeting his eye.

“You’re right, I am. You have to know how sorry I am.”

“Why did you run? There has to be more behind it.”

“It was my fault you got left, Max. I should have checked we were all there before moving on. This was my mission, you and everybody else were my responsibility and i failed you.” Daniel closed his eyes, trying to stop himself from crying. Max didn’t try to stop himself, he let himself cry. “After the heist I was going to...” Daniel paused and opened his eyes, looking at Max. He wanted to reach over and wipe the tears from his eyes. “I was going to propose to you.”

“No...” Max couldn’t help but cry more. 

“You can ask Lewis and Sebastian, they were helping me with the plan.” 

“Daniel...” 

“Max..” 

Max didn’t say anything else, he stood up and Daniel thought he was going to leave. Daniel thought he’d gone to far and Max was going to leave and he would never see him again. Max didn’t leave though, he came round to Daniel and hugged him tightly, burying his head into Daniel’s shoulder and crying. Daniel cried too. Max eventually sat down on Daniel’s lap. He rested his forehead against Daniel’s. 

“I forgive you, Dan. It might take some time to deal with it but I forgive you.” Max whispered in the space between them.

“I’m so sorry for leaving you in the medical room, so so so sorry.” Daniel breathed back.

“It’s okay, I destroy your car, I think we’re even.” He smiled weakly.

“Lewis told me you did that. I deserved that, I deserve a lot worse.” Daniel looked at him.

“No you don’t. You made a mistake, you’re only human. Charles wants to kill you though, I’ll talk to him.”

“Let him.”

“No, Danny, not gonna happen. I need you.” He wrapped his arms around Daniel’s neck. “Please, never leave me again.”

“I won’t, as long as you don’t want me too. I’m so sorry for leaving you there. I’m sorry for causing you to have a breakdown. If you want me to sleep on the couch or elsewhere i can, if you need me to give you space, just tell me.”

“I need you, i want you. You’re staying in our bed and by my side.” Max rested his head on Daniel’s shoulder. “It’s going to take some time for me to trust you completely again though but i can’t stand not being with you.”

“I understand, Max. I’ll wait and be patient with you. I love you.” 

“I love you too.”